Meet some of McAuliffe’s women in construction

07 Mar 2025

Anna Griffiths

Anna joined the company in 2022, and now manages one of our largest ever projects in Sheffield. It’s hard work, but rewarding, managing groundworker teams and overseeing the construction of walls, drilling and piling.

Anna’s now more involved in the commercial side of things too, dealing with subcontractors, applications for payment, and programming the job through Asta Powerproject software. Anna has no complaints as a woman on a construction site:

‘Everyone is very respectful and nice!’

Bonnie Hill

Having considered a career in forensic science, Bonnie instead joined McAuliffe’s in-house apprenticeship scheme in 2023 to train as a Construction Plant Operative, quickly achieving her red CSCS card in two categories. She is now working nationally, and starting to learn how to drive an excavator.

Speaking about her role, she said:

‘I love it, I’m so glad I took the opportunity to work in this industry. It doesn’t bother me being the only female on site - I’m treated just like anyone else. It feels empowering as a woman. There is always something new to learn in the construction industry, and it is never boring’.

Katie Harper

Katie passed her digger test when 24 weeks pregnant. She’s now back on site, driving an excavator.

‘I felt supported when pregnant. Tasks I couldn’t do, I wasn’t expected to do, and I had clear, designated areas to park so I wasn’t on uneven ground. HR has been helpful supporting me, for example, with a change to my working days. The beauty of working in this industry is that I am able work in a different location, so I can get home in time for baby’s bedtime!’

However, construction jobs are not only site based, but also include ’back of house’ jobs in departments such as Haulage, Marketing and Finance.

Women in Construction 2025

Here, some more women from McAuliffe’s wider team share their insights into the industry:

Helen Murphy

Now a trainee accountant, Helen started her career at McAuliffe working in reception. Keen to gain experience in other departments, Helen progressed to working within the Haulage team, where she managed invoicing for haulage, amongst other duties.

Helen is now a key member of the Accounts team, having completed her Level 2 AAT Accountancy certification and is aiming to progress to level 3 when time allows.

‘There are lots of facets to a role in the construction industry. I’d happily recommend [working in this industry] to other women. Don’t be put off! I feel well supported in the office and find it a varied and interesting industry’.

Kirsty Snell

Kirsty joined McAuliffe through our in-house apprenticeship scheme and recently passed her CILT UK Level 3 Certificate of Professional Competence for Transport Manager (Road Haulage), with the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport. An important part of the Haulage team, Kirsty has hands-on experience managing the day-to-day running of the McAuliffe fleet via fissara software, as well as now having the Transport Manager qualification, too!

She is now in the process of learning to drive an HGV. This way, Kirsty can experience first-hand the issues the HGV drivers she looks after encounter - this girl has ambition!

‘If I can drive and operate an HGV, I won’t have to go to my boss and can sort the issue myself.

Donna Mara

Although Donna studied Business Studies at college, she never envisaged working in the construction industry. Donna has now been with McAuliffe for six years and her role sees her primarily office based, yet often attending site.

She supports site staff, deals with operational issues via weekly team calls, and is heavily involved in the company tender process, working with the estimating department. A far cry from the nannying career that she had for twenty years, yet one that is still varied, busy and interesting!